Whenever I go out to any type of store and look around at the other people waiting in line, I have to laugh to myself at what I see- everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is looking down at their phones as they wait in line. I can’t point the finger, though- I catch myself doing the same thing- it has gotten to the point where it is a complete obsession. I don’t even enjoy doing it anymore, but it has become an annoying habit. But look on the bright side- at least it’s healthier than smoking, right?!!
When I look at the picture above showing the pounds of pressure you put on your spine by looking down at your phone, I searched and found the top 3 items that came up that weigh 60 lbs. What did I find? A boxer (the dog breed), a large leather punching bag, and 4 bowling balls…
This calculation of 60 lbs. was published in the journal Surgical Technology International, and they came to find that was the amount of force exerted on the head of an adult who is looking down at their phone. The human head by itself weighs roughly 10-12 lbs, so looking down to text makes your head about 5-6 times heavier than if you were looking straight ahead.
It used to be we had to worry about carpal tunnel, then came “Nintendo thumb.” Now, we’ve got to deal with “Facebook Neck” and “Twitter Spine!”
So, how many hours are YOU spending on your phone each day??? If you ARE going to be on your phone at all, keep your head up and look straight ahead at it instead of putting all that pressure on your spine.
And one more thing- try to hold it in a position where you aren’t using the same hand with your pinky finger curled underneath it to support the weight of it- that eventually leads to a cramping pinky finger also. Can you think of any catchy names for THAT diagnosis?!!
